Re: Xorg startup with serial console

[vab%bb-c.de@localhost (Volker A. Brandt)]

Hi Connor!


> > If I remember correctly, the OBP will not initialize the console at all
> > if no keyboard is detected.  So the OS cannot see the console in the
> > device tree, which is why you get this message.
>
> There are machines like the T1000 that don't even have the possibility
> to plug in a keyboard.

Exactly.  Since the T1000 only has ALOM, there is no KVM redirection.
So there is no chance of ever running a frame buffer in the T1000.

There are some machines with internal USB ports where you could put a
"keyboard simulator" device, but the T1000 doesn't have an internal port.

> But there is an x8 PCIe slot where one could put in an XVR-300.
>
> So i am practicing this scenario currently on an Ultra 25, where i
> boot via serial and without keyboard and try to start up an Xserver on
> the XVR-300.
> Later i would add keyboard and mouse via ssh by using synergy.
> This works on a system where the keyboard is attached without any problem.

Yep.

> But if i can't fire up the Xserver then there is no point in trying to
> add a gpu to the T1000 in the first place.
> Then the only possible thing one NetBSD is running on those machines
> would be rendering via Xvfb and using a remote system to view this.
>
> A remote possibility could be to use something like these
> PCIe-Splitters to add a USB card in parallel to the GPU.

My guess is that this might work but the cost for this would be more
than just buying a used T2000 on Ebay, where you would not have these
problems, because you could attach a keyboard to one of the USB ports.

> I am unsure if the presence of this card with attached peripherals
> would be enough to be accepted as a console to the Xserver, even when
> not recognized by OBP.

When the OBP recognizes the USB chip and can probes a device of class
"keyboard" on one of the USB ports, it should work.

> There are USB cards made by sun, but these are PCI and would require
> an additional slot conversion. And i'm also not sure if those are
> acceptable console sources for OBP.

They should also work, with the same caveat as the PCIe splitter idea.
Not sure if it is worth the effort, though.


Regards -- Volker
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Volker A. Brandt        Consulting and Support for Solaris-based Systems
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